Hillary Clinton open to supporting legalizing recreational marijuana use

June 17, 2014

As the country continues to move in the direction of marijuana legalization, the front runner for 2016 Democratic nomination for the White House is moving as well.

During an interview to promote her new book “Hard Choices,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat down with CNN on Tuesday and spoke about marijuana legalization. Clinton was first asked about her stance on medical marijuana and the benefits of its use.

“At the risk of committing radical candor, I have to say I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I don’t think we’ve done enough research yet, although I think for people who are in extreme medical conditions and who have anecdotal evidence that it works, there should be availability under appropriate circumstances. But I do think we need more research because we don’t know how it interacts with other drugs.”

When asked about full legal recreational use of marijuana, Clinton pointed to the recent legalization in Washington and Colorado and noted that she is taking a “wait and see” approach to lending her support.

“On recreational, states are the laboratories of democracy…We have at least two states that are experimenting with that right now. I want to wait and see what the evidence is.”

Clinton has made movement on her stance on the issue, once opposing, now being open following further observations. Colorado and Washington have legalized full recreational use while 22 states have legalized marijuana for medical use. According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, pubic support for marijuana legalization is souring, standing at over 50 percent.